Item-Level Tagging

Have you ever bought or sold an expensive item on eBay or any other online auction site?
Last year at the local Salvador Ferragamo store I bought an expensive classic purse that I wore for one month before deciding the strap was too short. So, I wrapped up the purse and stuck it in a drawer thinking it would never again see the light of day.

Have you ever bought or sold an expensive item on eBay or any other online auction site?

Last year at the local Salvador Ferragamo store I bought an expensive classic purse that I wore for one month before deciding the strap was too short. So, I wrapped up the purse and stuck it in a drawer thinking it would never again see the light of day.

A few months ago a friend began selling jewelry, along with first-edition signed books, on eBay, nudging me to give it a try. So, I did. I put that black classic Salvador Ferragamo purse for sale on eBay, starting the bid at $400.

A woman, we'll call Linda, bid the highest. Before sending me payment for the bag, she wrote an e-mail asking if it was authentic. Linda had bought what she thought an authentic Fendi purse a few months earlier, and eventually discovered it was fake.

Conversations last week with executives at RFID World in Boston got me thinking. What if handbag manufacturers insert an ultra high frequency (UHF) RFIDtag in the lining for inventory control, and left it in at the point of purchase to go home with the consumer?

And, what if handset makers like Motorola, Nokia or Samsung manufactured cellular phones with RFID chip readers? Linda, who bought the classic Salvador Ferragamo bag from me for more than $400, wouldn't have a worry. The purse would ship through the mail, and she could authenticate the merchandise on arrival at her home.